Sleeping Sickness
by messed up stargazer
Summary: Captain James T Kirk is at again. He's caught something bad, and it'll kill him eventually. If only they could find a cure. Better than the summary. Rated T just to be safe. R&R!
1. A Few Seconds

body

It started with the headaches. Whenever he walked into a room, the light would blind him and unbearable pain would build behind his eyes. So he started to wear sunglasses to stop it. They helped a little, but people would ask why the captain of a starship was wearing sunglasses while inside of said starship. "Because it's cool, and I look good." Was always his answer. Most people believed that was just his personality. They didn't see through the façade he'd built. His best friends never believed him though. They could see when he was James T Kirk, and they could see Jim Kirk. They weren't most people after all.

"Hey Jim why don't we-" Bones started, interrupting the walk Jim had taken to clear his head.

"Dear God! Bones, I'm fine. I don't need to go anywhere you can jam anything into my neck." James said, exasperated. He _was_ tired of the constant badgering.

"Guilty conscience, huh? Naw, I just wanted to know whether you wanted to go to the mess to get some lunch." Bones said.

He nodded, though he regretted it immediately. "Sure, sounds great. I _am_ kinda hungry."

Once they reached the mess, Jim knew that Bones was thinking of how to get the sunglasses off. He always was. So to spare himself the fight scene, he set his jaw and took the glasses off, putting them in his pocket. Just like he knew it would, the pain exploded behind his eyes and it took everything he had to not curl up in a ball and cry.

"Oh good God! You've been hiding your eyes for so long I forgot what color they were." Bones joked.

"Ha! That was so funny I forgot how to laugh. Are we gonna eat, or just stand here and ridicule me?" Jim snapped. He cursed himself. He never snapped at Bones, well, not when there was any hypo.

"Sorry. I guess I'm more tired than I realized." Jim mumbled.

Bones looked at him with worry and concern written all over his face. Being the good friend Bones was, he easily forgave him. "That's what happens when you work for twenty straight hours."

Jim snorted and chuckled quietly.

"What's your next shift?" Bones asked suddenly.

"Uh, Alpha like you. Why?" Jim answered.

"Because I'm sure Spock wouldn't mind switching with you, since he's on the Beta. He'd do anything for you." Bones added that last part in mockery.

"So you and him are _nothing_ alike." Jim teased, knowing it would really get him.

"(Snort). Good one. And I'll ask him. And do you want to stop before your drink overflows?" Bones asked, pulling Jim's hand away from the dispenser.

"Oh sorry." Jim murmured, but Bones didn't hear him. Instead, Bones simply reached into his pocket and pulled out Jim's sunglasses. Jim stiffened while Bones unfolded them, put them back over his eyes and the pain slowly ebbed away.

"Let me guess. You started wearing them so no one saw how red your eyes were, or the bags under them." Bones said.

Jim nodded. The explanation was close enough to the truth. They ate in silence after that, Bones watching his every move. Once they were done, Jim said 'good night' and walked away from Bones. He got to his quarters fairly quickly but forgot to lock the door.

After brushing his teeth and stripping, he climbed onto his bed. He sat on his ass and tried to think relaxing thoughts. His eyes rolled up inside his head and fell against the pillows. After a few seconds, he cracked his eyes open. _Damn, I really was tired._ He thought, then tumbled headfirst into a long, deep sleep.

Three hours later, just before the Alpha shift, Spock opened the door. Noticing the door wasn't locked, he stepped lightly over to the sleeping Captain. Doctor McCoy had already informed him on the Captain's situation. Overwork, and exhaustion were silent battles Captain Kirk fought every day, especially in recent days. The room was shrouded in darkness, a complete mess yet extremely neat. Clothes were on the floor, but they were n it strewn, they had their own pile. Everything from crushed drinking cups to wet/dry towels was messy but in it's own place.

Spock maneuvered around the room until he reached the bedside table. The Captain was snoring softly, sprawled out on his bed. Reason told him that Kirk would have been too tired to remember to reset his alarm clock. He was right, so his task done, he backed out of the room the way he came.

"Sleep well, Captain." Spock whispered, and locked the door behind him.


	2. A Few Minutes

The next few days passed without much incident until they ran into the _Prometheus_, the first Federation ship to be captained by a woman, Charlotte 'Charlie' Santiago.

"Hello, Captain Santiago." Jim greeted. She was good friend of his, and he respected her, something hard to be earned.

"Hello, Captain Kirk." She smiled.

"So, watcha doing?" He toyed.

"We are on a mission. Aren't you?" She asked.

"Naw, we're heading back to Earth for another one. We were 'out of range'." Jim teased. Charlie laughed, along with the crews of both ships.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses? Did they turn the lights on too much?" She joshed.

"They're cool. And I like them." He defended, like a broken record.

"You truly are a strange man James T Kirk." She smiled.

But just then, his eyes rolled up inside his head and he hit the floor with a loud 'thud'.

"Captain? Captain Kirk!" Charlie shouted. Spock was by his side in a minute, having to cross the entire bridge, and just as Spock determined he was alive, Jim snapped his eyes open.

"I'm good, I'm good. Ugh, note to self, stop locking your knees." Jim groaned and stood up.

"I'm all right Charlie. I locked my knees. Again." Jim said, as if he'd had a problem. Since no one knew about his past, he could get away with something like that.

"Good. We gotta go, but it was nice talking to you. Goodbye, Captain Kirk." Captain Santiago said.

"Goodbye, Captain Santiago." He said, and ended the communication.

"Captain, do you believe it would be wise to go and see Doctor McCoy?" Spock asked quietly. No one heard him but Jim.

"Naw. Spock I'm all right. I used to do that all the time when I was a kid. Didn't hurt me, as long as I didn't land on anything, or in one special case, any_one_." Jim said, lies hidden within the truth. He hated lying to Spock, but there wasn't anything wrong with him. At least, he didn't think so.


	3. A Few Hours

It took them three more days to reach Earth, dock, get refueled and new orders and set out again. The mission was to go to a planet in the Federation was about to erupt in civil war over a river Apparently, they wanted the famous James T Kirk to persuade the rebels to quiet down. Sometimes, it was hard to be the poster boy.

Once in orbit, Jim had three and a half hours to get dressed, eat, and get to the transporter room in time. But when he was getting into his dress uniform, after smiling and looking in the mirror telling himself he looked gorgeous, the world spun once more. He fell against his bed, completely wrapped in unconsciousness s black embrace.

A quarter after three hours later, his alarm clock rang out. He hadn't realized he'd never turned it off. Brought back to reality, he looked and scrambled to finish dressing. Telling himself he'd eat later he half walked half jogged to the transporter room, stopping to make sure he had his breath, and he entered with his usual Sauvé.

"Hey Jim nice of you to finally join us." McCoy bantered.

"Aw, you missed me." Jim responded in kind.

Spock gave him the _if-I-were-human-I'd-roll-my-eyes_ look, which earned a smirk from Jim before he announced 'Energize'.

Seventy point one hours later, Jim was sleeping on Spock's shoulder, and McCoy was asleep on his hand. It had only been one day for the inhabitants, and the Captain and Chief Medical Officer were exhausted. Spock rolled his shoulder, waking the Captain up.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Kirk mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Noticing his best friend was asleep right next to him, he kicked underneath the table.

"OW! That hurt." McCoy whined.

"Baby. Whoa, Spock where did everyone go?" Kirk said, looking around.

"They retired for the day. Dawn will approach in three point seven hours." Spock recited.

"So how is it going? Did we miss anything?" Kirk asked.

"Not well. You did not 'miss' anything except for the peace negotiations severely declining as they were when you fell asleep. Neither side will accept compromise." Spock answered.

"Perfect. What'd happen if war _did_ erupt here?" McCoy asked, his voice still husky from sleep.

"Because of the advanced weapons but primitive tactics, both sides will be annihilated." Spock said, as of saying the sky were blue.

"Yeah, well, we don't want that." Kirk voiced, but then the room shook violently, throwing them out of their chairs.

"It would seem the negotiations have done nothing." Spock voiced.

"Oh ya think?" McCoy yelled.

"Stop yelling, start running." Kirk ordered.

Thankfully, they were in a one-story building and escaped easily. But Jim's body wasn't taking it so easily. If he wasn't so focused on 'run, get them out of here, run faster', he would've noticed his teeth were chattering. His breath was quicker and shallower, becoming more of a pant than a breath, and his heart was pounding in his chest, twice as hard as usual. Kirk's speed started to wane, and he couldn't keep his feet.

"Enterprise-beam-us-up!" Kirk choked out.

"Captain? I cannot get a lock on you… get to higher ground… The explosions are causing an interference-" But Scotty was cut off by static.

"Higher ground! Get to- get to- higher- high-" Kirk panted but was so breathless he couldn't finish the sentence. His chest was tighter than a wound rubber band, and he fell to his knees.

Spock (_Thank God for Vulcan hearing_ Jim thought) turned around, and looked into Jim's blurred eyes.

"Jim!" Spock shout barely entered his ears as Jim's eyes rolled up inside his head and he collapsed onto the sand.


	4. A Day

Adrenaline combined with fear flooded through Spock's veins. He raced to his fallen Captains side, checked to see of he was wounded, and after finding nothing he slung the unconscious Jim over his shoulder.

"What happened?" McCoy asked when Spock had rejoined with him.

"I do not know. He simply collapsed." Spock answered.

"Well, humans don't usually collapse at any random moment, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say something's wrong with him." McCoy snapped.

"Snapping at me will not help the situation, Doctor. We must find shelter." Spock said calmly.

"There!" McCoy shouted after another minute of running. A small cave, big enough to give them some shelter from the war, entered Spock's vision and they ran inside.

After setting Jim down gently, Spock took off his shirt, ripped it in two, and put one half underneath the Captain's head, and the other underneath his feet.

"Thanks." McCoy breathed, distant, completely absorbed in scanning Jim with his medical tricorder. Slowing his breath to normal, Spock merely waited for McCoy to speak. If he tried too early, McCoy would simply snap at him again. Kirk was pale, yet his skin felt as if it were on fire.

"Damn." McCoy muttered. Spock's worry increased as the Doctor cursed again and again.

"He's got a fever of 40.5 (104.9), his breathing's shallow, his heartbeat is erratic, Goddamn it! I need him to awake for this." McCoy shouted, his worry very pronounced.

"I fear for him as well Doctor, but with his, for lack of a better word, condition he may not awaken for some time." Spock reasoned.

"Goddamn! I need him in sickbay, not stranded on some planet in the middle of a war!" McCoy yelled, reverting back to his Georgian speech pattern as his anxiety increased.

"Doctor, I believe this has happened before." Spock said, connecting what happened to the bridge to now.

"What? When?" McCoy demanded.

"On the bridge about one earthen week ago. When we had contact with the _Prometheus_. He was talking with Captain Santiago and he suddenly collapsed. He woke two point one minutes later." Spock explained.

"And why in hell didn't you take him to me immediately?" McCoy growled.

"Because he would not go. He merely said he had locked his knees. I thought no more of it since I know it to be a common human weakness." Spock answered calmly.

"Damn. Leave it to him to get sick and not tell us. Again." McCoy pouted.

"Now we must focus on leaving this planet. Spock to Enterprise." He said, opening his communicator.

"Spock? Where's the Captain? What's going on down there?" Scotty s voice, distorted by static, echoed through the cave.

"War has broken out. We require immediate beaming." Spock recited.

"And beam me and Kirk straight into sickbay!" McCoy shouted from over Spock's shoulder.

"You haven't answer me questions, Spock. Where is the Captain?" Scotty asked again. Scotty had never fully trusted Spock whenever Kirk wasn't around.

McCoy yanked the communicator from Spock and spoke into it. "Our beloved captain is unconscious from something he hasn't told us about. Again. Now for God's sake, beam us up already!"

"I cannot get a lock on you. The explosions are causing interference in our scanners. You have to get away from there. Once we get a lock, we'll beam you up right away." Scotty said through the static.

"Understood. Spock out." Spock said, taking the communicator back and ending the conversation.

"Doctor, try to rest. I will explore the surface to see if I can determine a safe way to travel." Spock said.

"Don't get killed, you green-blooded hobgoblin." McCoy responded.

War is atrocious, Spock already knew that to be true, but this, in the Captain's words, 'took it to a whole new level of nasty'. The war had only raged on for twenty-nine point eight minutes, but had already turned into the worst situation imaginable. Smoke burned at his eyes, nose, and throat, screams of terror tore at his ears, but Spock could see. After walking for an hour and forty-seven point three minutes, he found a passageway leading to an open field that was ten point five miles away from the cave. The war seemed to stop mauling his senses while he was there and he decided to bring the Captain here for evacuation.

When Spock reached the cave, it was deathly silent.

"Doctor? Captain? Doctor McCoy?" Spock called.

He found them, Jim still unconscious, and McCoy leaned against the wall, sleeping. The adrenaline rush of the escape must have worn off. Spock sat next to the Captain. Kirk was paler than before, his breath faster and shallower, and he was slightly thrashing. Spock took Jim's hand and rubbed in his thumb in a circle, which he knew to be soothing to the Captain. Jim stilled almost immediately, and seemed to sleep.

Three hours later, Spock was still in the same position he was earlier in a state of light mediation. He pulled himself out of it when he felt Jim thrash, hard. Snapping his eyes open, he found the Captain could not breathe.

"Doctor!" He shouted, waking the man with a start.

"Move." McCoy ordered and Spock followed. McCoy injected a hypo into the Captain's neck and Jim took in a huge breath but still did not wake.

"Damn that was close. I almost expected him to whine 'OW stop it!' like he always does." McCoy admitted.

Spock stayed silent. He could not contemplate a world without James T Kirk. He was cocky, selfish, arrogant, and crazy, or at least, that's what he wanted people to think. Really, he was kind, selfless, smart, caring, loving, but still crazy. He was someone Spock thankful for, a man who he considered a friend, someone he would gladly die for. Now, though, he may die before he had a chance to really 'live life', as Kirk always said.

"Spock? Spock, are you even listening to me?" McCoy was saying.

"I apologize Doctor. I was… thinking." Spock explained.

"I can see that. You had that look. Did you find anything?" McCoy asked.

"Yes, there is a clearing ten point five miles away from here that suits our needs." Spock relayed.

"Over ten miles? I'm not sure I want Jim out there for that long." McCoy said.

"We do not have a choice. If we want to get the Captain onto the ship, we must get to that clearing." Spock reasoned.

"That doesn't mean I have to like it. Can you carry him?" McCoy asked. Spock nodded and slid his hands underneath Jim's back and knees. Spock ignored the snort that came from McCoy, and proceeded to lead him to the clearing. Spock had his right hand always over the Captain's mouth, lest he have another respiratory attack. Jim coughed violently and gagged, but his breath never left him.

They walked nine point four miles before Spock heard McCoy's voice tugging at his ears. "Spock-have-sit-I-stop."

Spock stopped while McCoy caught his breath, which was rather hard to do. It was exhausting to the Vulcan as well, but he could _not_ lose the Captain because he was too weak. He simply would not.

"Are you all right… Doctor?" Spock asked.

"Yeah… but its Jim I'm… worried about." McCoy coughed and did a semi check-up on him. Jim was not getting worse, but he was certainly not getting better.

Once they reached the clearing, the communicator beeped.

"Spock here." Spock said.

"Don't move." Scotty said, his voice now free of static.

The familiar, yet still unsettling in Bones' eyes, sensation of beaming filled them, and once again they were back on the _Enterprise_.

"What the bloody hell happened to you? You're covered in soot, your clothes are ripped to shreds, and your shoes have melted to the bloody ground!" Scotty shouted, and he was right. They had

As much as he got on Bones' nerves, Spock knew him very well, and simply nodded at him before rushing to sickbay, the Captain still unconscious in his arms. But he heard something only a doctor would hear: his breath was coming in pants. And McCoy didn't blame him. Going through all that, while carrying a 225-pound man must've been intense, even for a Vulcan.

McCoy comm. ed sick bay and told Nurse Chapel that he needed a stimulant, and a bed cleared for the Captain immediately. After he conveyed everything to her, he raced to his friend. Crashing through the doors to sickbay, McCoy found his breath leave in a 'whoosh'.


	5. Finding the Cure

McCoy found his chocolate brown eyes locking with dull blue ones.

"Jim." He breathed.

Jim tried to croak out something, but found his throat was scratchy and wouldn't work.

"Don't try to talk, Jim. Just nod or shake your head. Do you feel any pain?" He asked.

Jim nodded.

"Where?" McCoy pressed his hand on Jim's abdomen. "Here? Blink once for yes, two for no."

Jim blinked twice.

"All right, once for higher, twice for lower." McCoy asked.

Jim blinked once.

"Your head?" McCoy asked, suddenly piecing the pieces of the puzzle together.

Jim nodded sleepily, and his eyelids fluttered.

"No! Jim don't go back to sleep on me! Have you passed out before today?" McCoy asked.

Jim nodded.

"How many times?" McCoy asked.

Jim blinked twice.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" McCoy asked, sounding hurt.

Jim shrugged, then winced.

"I don't want you falling asleep again. Do you want something to drink?" McCoy said and Jim nodded vigorously, then winced again.

"All right. I'll get you some water. Do you want ice?" McCoy asked.

Jim thought then as he was about to move, his eyes rolled up inside his head and he fell limp against his pillows.

"Jim! No, Jim wake up." McCoy said, and shook him. Jim did not wake.

"Goddamn. Wait, maybe it's-" McCoy thought aloud. He raced through to an old PADD on viruses and bacteria. He scrolled down to the S.

"Found it. I got it! I got it!" McCoy could've jumped for joy. But then he realized for what he was about to do, he'd need the permission of the acting captain. He called Spock into his office and Spock arrived within a minute.

"Yes Doctor?" Spock asked.

"I found what's wrong with him. On Earth, it's called Sleeping Sickness. You literally sleep your life away. First, you pass out for a few seconds, then a few minutes, then a few hours, then a day, then a week, then a year, and then the rest of your life." McCoy said.

"Is it treatable?" Spock asked.

"Better than that, it's curable." McCoy said.

"How?" Spock asked.

"I'll need permission for it, of course." McCoy said, slightly distracted.

"You have it. How do we cure him?" Spock asked, bringing McCoy down to reality.

McCoy smiled. "Simple. We need to kill Captain Kirk."


	6. Flatline

"Remember what we have to do. First we have to stop his heart for three minutes and three minutes only. Then the area infected will turn black. Once that happens, we restart his heart. Is everyone ready?" McCoy repeated.

His team nodded, although they looked very uncomfortable. McCoy didn't blame them, he didn't want to kill his best friend either but he had to do it to save his life. Jim would have a field day over the irony if-when he woke up.

"Charging two-hundred." Nurse Chapel said, rubbing the d-paddles together.

Swiftly, she brought them down on his chest, and discharged them. Jim's back arched, and the oh-so familiar sound of a flat line filled their ears. The timer started, all they could do was wait. Time seemed to slow down, every second was an hour until black started to form on Jim's leg, near a cut that Jim had gotten a few weeks ago. Strangely, there was no sign of infection. _I'll bet he never even noticed it._ McCoy thought to himself.

Three minutes passed and Nurse Chapel discharged the paddles again. Jim's back arched yet again.

Nothing. The flat line continued.

"Again." McCoy ordered, and Chapel followed.

Nothing.

McCoy ordered her to do it again.

Nothing.

"No, Jim, you're not gonna die today. Again." McCoy said.

Nothing, but then the tiniest beep sounded. The beeps got louder and stronger as Jim's heartbeat did. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and smiled. Chapel even laughed.

_I told you so, Jim. I won't let you die, ever._

The tale of Jim catching Sleeping Sickness was spread across the entire ship by, you guessed it, Jim himself. Now comfortably seated in his Captain's chair, the headaches and sunglasses gone, Jim looked into the depth of space. Of course, Spock and Bones would hover like hummingbirds, but Jim was okay with that. Life was back to normal, and that was all he could ask for.


End file.
